Their Finest Hour- Magic in Nazi Germany

As the western world crumbled to the economic collapse of the 30s, German fascism rose and certain unconventional theories about Vril rose with it. Nazi science rejected quantum mechanics and sought forgotten magical traditions. The Nazi’s rebuilt Germany’s Aluminate Churches in their image and expelled the Guild in 1935. The Ahnenerbe (a division of the SS dedicated to race theory and research) holds total control of magical practices in the Third Reich. Sigil scribes openly craft runes, but only with the properly Germanic Futhark sigil alphabet. Nazi occultists at the top (including Heinrich Himmler and Rudolf Hess) embrace petty conjuring as “the one true Volkish magic, long suppressed by the Western Inquisition (the Hermetic Guild)”. Ruthless Conjurors leverage their new prestige, foster an occult air to their enchantments, and climb into the highest ranks of the Wehrmacht, Ahnenerbe or SS.

Until 1935, the German branch of the Guild instructed all Thaumaturgists. After Hitler dissolved the Guild in Germany, most fled the country. The remaining thaumaturgists joined the Ahnenerbe under threat of death to teach their skills to a new generation of young magicians loyal to the Führer. While the Nazi regime embraces many fringe mystical theories and pseudosciences, their tyranny leaves no room for magic practitioners outside the approval of the state.

At the center of the Reich’s occult politics sits the mysterious Vril Society. In 1919, the progenitors of the National Socialist German Worker’s Party (the Nazi Party) gathered with occultists to communicate with the unknown. Two beautiful young women named Maria and Sigrun led the men in a séance and shared wonderful and terrible truths from primeval earth. The participants of that séance formed the Vril Society (also known as the Luminous Lodge) to guide German fascism to their secret ends or the ends of their secret masters. The Vril Society hosts demonstrations open to the public with slide shows depicting artist's imaginings of ancient civilizations from the lost continent of Thule and promises to awaken the magnetic abilities inherent to all Aryan people. Before the war, the Vril Society even performed demonstrations in London. Members of the Vril Society holds key positions in the German government, industry, and military, but no one outside their membership can explain the vast amounts of money and war materials funneled into the society by the Führer.

When the German army triumphantly marched into Austria, the international community gasped at the incredible strength of Vril at their disposal. Nazi magicians performed with ease wonders the world had not seen in 200 years! Lindwyrms bore swastika-laden banners through the skies! Skilled spells singers, known as Fächer, dispersed clouds and split open hills to make way for marching platoons of soldiers! The world saw this same show of strength in Czechoslovakia, Poland, Luxembourg, and France. The Axis war effort overcame whatever universal law dwindles magic. None of the Allies know the source of this endless  antediluvian energy, but European refugees and Whitehall politicians share plenty of theories: 

-During the 1939 German expedition to Tibet, Nazi mystics learned ancient forgotten methods to harness Vril from an ascended Master in Shamballa known as “the King of the World”.

-Nazi scientists and musicologists discovered the potent mythic reality suggested by Wagner’s operas. Through their fanaticism and skill they draw strength from Nordic myth cycles and Aryan folksongs.

-The SS breeds magically adept children through the Lebensborn (Fountain of Life) project. SS officers kidnapped Polish and Russian children gifted with psychical abilities from occupied territories adding to their breeding stock.

-An Ahnenerbe archeological team uncovered or “recovered” an ancient artifact out of Aluminate legends. In Hitler’s hands, it acts both as a symbol of power as a source of power.

-During the séance at the founding of the Vril Society, Atlantean sorcerers living beyond the physical world outlined an ancient machine from the lost continent of Thule in minute detail. German industrialists developed blueprints from the description and developed a strange bell-like device kept in a secret location.

Their Finest Hour- The Science of Vril

As I finished working on The Blitz Spirit (available here for download), I recognized I left out an important part: the Magic. Don’t worry, it’s coming. During this series, we’ll explore how magic changed in the preceding 90 years, what new spells rose up, and where all the Nazi mystical power came from.

The Day Science Conquered Magic

In ancient Greece it was Aether- the substance breathed in by the gods as man breathes air. The Hindus believe in Prana- the life force in all things living and inanimate. For alchemists of the Middle Ages through the time of Queen Victoria, it was Quintessence- the substance of the heavens. All cultures identified substance connecting them to the universal magical power. Thaumaturgists, conjurors, and other magicians manipulate this connection to alter reality through will. Now the concept of Quintessence is gone, swept away when mankind’s reason cracked open the inner workings of the universe and peered inside. 

In 1916, Ernest Rutherford performed a number of experiments testing whether magical sources of light emitted alpha particles. By igniting a block of wood with a thaumaturgical spell and encasing that block in a lead box with a single hole, he was able to detect minute fluctuations emanating from the hole reflected by a sheet of Cold Iron. Rutherford theorized these fluctuations were caused by stray magical particles released during magical reactions and named these particles “Vril” after the eponymous mystical energy described in Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s book, Vril, the Power of the Coming Century. Further experiments revealed the Vril detected by Rutherford’s experiments was in fact Quintessence, detected solely by scientific apparatus for the first time. Later work by Lise Meitner and Otto Hahn pioneered the containment of Vril fields using ferrous metals and magnetic fields. In 1931, Walther Müller invented the Vrillometer, a device capable of detecting and quantifying a Vril field’s strength.

But even as science began to peel away the mystery of Vril, it also measured the power’s loss. Scientists and guild magicians across the world compared experimental results through the 1930s tracking the global weakening of magical ability and its acceleration. For centuries magicians noticed magic’s power waning from its antediluvian strength. Miracles devolved to spells practiced only by a learned few, as the industrial revolution spread across the world. By the 1930s radio, automobiles, telephones, electric lights, airplanes, and other conveniences took magic’s place. Now science quantifies and predicts the Vril field’s decay. Mathematician Arnfreid Froelich (for whom the decay is named) calculated mankind would be unable to perform magic by the end of the 20th Century.

Through the Great Depression and into the start of the war in Europe, scientists, mystics, and priests strive to rediscover and recapture magic’s lost might, some by welding magical formula with modern scientific theories (such as Albert Einstein), and others by embracing tabooed occult practices (such as Alistair Crowley). Now war brings extra desperation to their attempts. Worried by the Axis war machine’s magical superiority, Allied forces try to close the gap. Magical practices previously dismissed by the Guild, such as conjuration, became the subjects of careful study. Scientists and hermeticists exiled from their overrun countries (such as Froelich) added their expertise to the war effort. The Guild strives to harness Britain’s few magical resources and discover powerful treasures long lost. Some groups, such as the Ancient Order of Druids (of which Prime Minister Winston Churchill is a member), hope for a miracle from the past. 

Group Rolls- A Helpful House Rule For Helpful People

During my most recent Victoriana Campaign, I thought up another quick house rule worth sharing on the blog. Everyone needs help sometimes, and this rule helps helpers dramatically helping.

In most cases, characters in Victoriana attempt tasks on their own, or everyone attempts similar tasks at the same time. For example, a dwarf, an elf, and an ogre suspect the library hides a secret passage. All three search for the entrance at the same time, probably at different heights. All three make a Perception + Wits test. Those that succeed, find the book that opens the secret door. Those that fail, look at their successful peers with admiration. Everyone had a chance, but nobody helped each other. They simply all tried the same task at the same time.

Sometimes a task depends on the effort of one person, but others can assist through Group Rolls. The same dwarf, elf, and ogre discover the secret passage leads down to a large sewer canal. A rowboat bobs in the murky sludge. They climb in. As the strongest member of the party, the ogre takes the oars. The elf holds up a lantern and points out obstacles as the dwarf stirs up the water in front of the boat with a stick to ease its passage through the sludge. In this case, the ogre is trying to perform a task, while the elf and dwarf assist.

Page 163 of the Victoriana 3^rd Edition rulebook explains how Group Rolls work. The primary (in this case the ogre) rolls the test as normal, while the assistants (the elf and dwarf) roll the test with only dice from skills in their pool (no attributes). Their net successes count as automatic successes in the primary’s test.

That’s fine, but this is Victoriana. Let’s roll lots of dice and embrace dramatic tension! Here is how Group Rolls work at my table: First the assistants test whatever Skill + Attribute is pertinent to the task just like a regular test. For every success rolled, the primary removes a black die from the dice pool for their test. Then the primary rolls their test with a normal pool and the reduced black dice. If the assistant’s dice pools had black dice, they may roll a foul failure. In which case, they add black dice equal to their test result to the primary’s dice pool.

In this case, the ogre is the primary and the other two adventurers assist them. The ogre is about to roll a Might+ Strength test with six black dice to row the boat through the canal. The elf snagged three successes, directing the ogre to duck their head at low ceilings and avoid rushing water, but the dwarf’s frantic stirrings netted one black die success. Together their efforts reduced the six black dice in the Ogre’s pool down to four. If the ogre succeeds in their test, the party navigates through the secret canal to the cabal’s lair. If not, they wind deeper into the sewer at a pace slow enough for something awful to catch up to them.

This house rule is really a matter of taste. In Victoriana, I prefer more dice and less automatic successes. The rule in the book is fine. It works, but I wholeheartedly prefer this method.

Their Finest Hour- The Blitz Spirit Released!

Today, I’m ecstatic to announce The Blitz Spirit is available to download on this blog’s Resources page for free! This is a setting that has been in my head for a very long time. You can download it here or click on the picture below!

The next project for Their Finest Hour will explore the state of magic in 1940 and the differences between Vril and Quintessence. That might be a while, but it is on the way.